Natural disasters are
caused by nature. Right? Well, yes, and no. Where a large
earthquake hits and there are no humans in the area a disaster
did not occur. Disasters occur when man has put himself in
harm's way of nature. So, a natural disaster is in reality, man
made. A Disaster needs the human component to be a disaster.
Hurricanes, Earthquakes and Volcanoes are wonders of nature that
carry great power. When those forces of nature intrude upon
man's development of civilization, or visa-versa, disasters occur.

Looking over the world and back through the past we see that
destruction is often greater in areas that still use primitive
or antiquated methods in building homes and buildings. Population
centers often have developed in areas that are more prone to
nature's attacks. Coast lines often take the brunt of Hurricanes
and tsunamis created by earthquakes and volcanic activity. Only
in recent history has man been able to determine the location of
earthquake faults yet development still continues in those
locations. California has frequent earthquakes yet desire for
sunny weather overrides the consideration of earthquake faults.
Man now has the knowledge to live in peace with nature but
chooses convenience and pleasure over safety.

Man and Nature will continue to clash as our researchers and
developers devise ways to make our lives safer in the face of
disaster. For now it is our responsibility to be prepared to
avoid becoming a statistic of a natural disaster. See
Disaster Safety.

A Hurricane is an
intense cyclone with heavy rains and winds that blow at 73 to
136 knots (84 to 156 Miles per hour). Most Hurricanes occur in
the North Atlantic Ocean or the Northeast Pacific Ocean, east of
the International Dateline.

Hurricanes form in warm tropical areas where the water is 80
degrees Fahrenheit or more. That is why Alaska does not have
hurricanes. The hurricanes that hit the U.S., Canada and Iceland
are formed in the lower tropical areas at or below the Bahamas,
sometimes off the African coast. Moist air converges with winds
from the equator forming clusters of clouds or thunderstorms
that move out over warm ocean waters. Most of the storms
generated simply dissipate and die out. Others build momentum
with the thunderstorms building latent heat that warms the area.
The warmer air rises as cooler air rushes in below increasing
the wind speed. As the winds speed up they begin to rotate. More
cool winds are drawn in to feed the increasing rotation of the
winds to become a cyclone. Just as the water swirls down your
toilet to the right (assuming you are in the northern
hemisphere) as it would turn opposite in the southern
hemisphere, the rotation of the hurricane will do the same. At
low wind speeds the storm is called a tropical depression. It
becomes a Tropical storm when the wind reaches 39 miles per
hour. At wind speeds of 74 miles per hour or faster you have a
hurricane.

Hurricanes will travel thousands of miles and will slow or speed
up depending upon whether it blows over cold or warm waters
respectively. The hurricane will usually slow as it moves onto
land loosing it's supply of moist warm air and will slow
becoming lower storms and die or become revitalized if it again
reaches warmer waters while still strong. The hurricane moving
onto land is called landfall.

Meteorologists will track the hurricanes keeping measure of the
intensity to warn the public of danger and for further study to
learn more about the phenomenon of the hurricane. The tracking
is made by satellites, specially equipped aircraft and equipment
on the ground. Radar and infrared sensors are some of the
technology that is used to track speed, rain, and other
properties of the hurricane.

The devastation of a hurricane in populated areas can be great.
Winds can destroy weak buildings carry off material, livestock
and people. While on the sea a hurricane can cause meteotsunamis
(storm surges) that can cause just as much or more damage as the
high swirling winds. Meteorologists use a rating system to
inform the public of the intensity of the danger approaching.
The Saffir-Simpson scale for measuring hurricanes was developed
by meteorologists Herbert Saffir and Robert Simpson in 1975. A
Category one will have some flooding with little damage to
structures. With a category 2 one can expect flooding of coastal
roads, downed trees and roof damage. The category 3 has severe
flooding, damage to homes and destruction of mobile homes. The
category 4 has severe flooding inland, ripped off roofs and
major damage to structures. Then the category 5 will send severe
flooding further inland and cause intense damage to most wood
buildings. The wind speeds in the different categories are 74 to
95 mph in a category 1; 96 to 110 mph for a category 2; 110 to
130 mph in a category 3; 131 to 155 mph for the category 4; and
then greater than 155 miles per hour for the Category 5
hurricane.

Names are given to each storm as it is formed to aid in the
tracking of the particular storm. Hurricanes for hundreds of
years in the West Indies were named after the Catholic saint of
the day the storm made landfall. When a hurricane made landfall
on an anniversary of another hurricane it would be given a
number such as 'San Felipe the Second'. During the early 1900s
hurricanes were simply numbered. During WWII the names were
masculine and drawn from a small pool of names that often
followed the radio alphabetic code names. Feminine names were
given to the storms beginning in 1953 but then political
correctness brought an alternating of feminine and masculine
names in 1979. Names in a hurricane seasonal region are drawn
from the cultures in that area. The first hurricane of the
season in its region begins with an 'A' and the next a 'B' on
down the alphabet. The names are recycled every 11 years except
for the name of a hurricane that causes significant damage in
which that name will be 'retired' to keep a historical
recognition of that storm into the future.

Trivia -In 1933 two hurricanes
made landfall in the United States in just under 25 hours apart.
2008 was the first time on record that a hurricane existed in
every month of the Atlantic hurricane season.The 2004
Atlantic hurricane season was the first on record to have 8
hurricanes form in August.
The Deadliest American Hurricane was in 1900 when a Category 4
hit Galveston in Texas; Around 10,000 people died from the
winds, rains and meteotsunami (storm surge).

Earthquakes are
a shaking or rolling of the ground either by natural phenomenon
or man-made. Mine blasts and nuclear experiments are the usual
causes by man. In nature an earthquake can be caused by
geological faults, volcanic activity, and landslides. A slipping
of plates or faults will cause a displacing of the ground and
sometimes causing the displacement of large bodies of water.
Earthquakes are also known as quakes, tremors or temblors.

An earthquake occurs when pressures in the Earth's crust is
suddenly released in a great burst of energy. That energy can be
recorded as waves when registered on seismometers that commonly
are called seismographs. Man measures the magnitude of a quake
by registering the vibrations as marks on a graph. The
registered waves are called seismic waves whether made by nature
or by man. Seismologists use the seismic wave records to study
Earth's interior. The magnitude (power and size) of the quake
are recorded. To give a perspective of the energy that is
released by an earthquake, we can equate a 5.7 earthquake with
the 1945 atomic bomb blast at Hiroshima.

During the Han dynasty, ancient China had an instrument for
measuring winds and the Earth's movements. The seismograph as we
know it, in earlier development was first developed by a team
who worked to study the frequent quakes in Japan in the 1880s
through the mid-1890s. One of the earlier devices helped to
provide correct initial shock directions of the 1906 San
Francisco earthquake. Today there are various forms of the
seismographs that are used for various purposes. For many years
the seismographs recorded the quakes on paper. Today, a digital
version inputs the data directly into a computer.

The Richter magnitude scale (Richter scale) has been the scale
used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake. It was developed
by Charles Richter assisted by Beno Gutenberg of the California
Institute of Technology in 1935. The Richter scale is a base-10
logarithmic scale with a 5.0 being ten times the magnitude of a
4.0. The 'moment magnitude scale' is becoming the measurement of
choice using similar values but is more correlated to the
quake's destructive power.

Prior to being able to measure by use of seismographs,
historical earthquakes are studied. With the knowledge obtained
and by studying the modern earthquake records the size and
magnitude of, even ancient, quakes can be estimated. Studying
the historical accounts of earthquakes, the seismologists use
reported damages, deaths and how the quake 'felt'. They will
then compare them to the same of more recent quakes to determine
the probable magnitude of an earthquake.

The various magnitudes of earthquakes have been categorized by
the potential for destruction. Micro-earthquakes are less than
2.0 and are not felt. Minor quakes are from 2.0 to 2.9 and are
recorded but usually not felt and from 3.0 to 3.9 that are felt
but rarely cause damages. Light quakes measure 4.0 to 4.9 and
cause a noticeable shaking of the ground and indoor items and
may cause light damage only. A Moderate quake, 5.0 to 5.9 can
cause major damage to poorly built and slight damage to well
designed buildings. A Strong quake, 6.0 to 6.9, can cause damage
over 100 miles in areas with populations. Major earthquakes
measure 7.0 to 7.9 and may cause damage over large areas. Great
earthquakes of 8.0 to 8.9 might cause substantial damage over a
several hundred mile area and the 9.0 to 9.9 being devastating
over thousands of miles. The Epic quake is 10.0 and greater and
is very rare; man does not know of any Epic quakes.

Trivia -

- There are 50
earthquakes detected each day. That adds up to over 18,000 a
year. - The Earth
averages 18 major quakes 7.0 to 7.9 and one 8.0 or above each
year. - The largest
earthquake recorded was 9.5 in
Chile in 1960. - The power of a
3.5 earthquake is equivalent to the energy released in the 1986
Chernobyl nuclear disaster.- The energy
released in an 8.0 earthquake is equivalent to one-gigaton of
dynamite.- The energy
released by a 9.5 quake is equivalent to 178 gigatons of
dynamite.

Tsunami is taken from the Japanese language. The
literal meaning is "harbor crossing wave" or "ferry crossing
wave" [harbor
crossing or ferry crossing - tsu, 津 and
wave - nami, 波]
The English pronunciation of 'tsunami' is "suˈnɑ
mi "
Japan has frequently experienced tsunamis on its shores.

Tsunamis are larger than normal 'tidal waves'
that in past history have occurred without warning and no
apparent cause. The 'tsunami' not too long ago was called a
'Tidal Wave'. Since tsunamis have nothing to do with tides
'tsunami' has taken a more prominent role in describing the
phenomenon of 'tidal waves". Today we have learned much more
about the tsunami and are able to send warnings to avoid deaths.
The definition of 'tsunami' is a series of water waves or 'a
tsunami wave train' that is caused by displacement of a large
volume of a body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or large lake.

Tsunamis are most often created by earthquakes, sending waves
through vast bodies of water. Volcanoes create tsunamis by
creating earthquakes or causing large landslides that fall into
the sea. The storm surge of a Hurricane is called a
meteotsunami as they are caused by meteorological conditions as
deep depressions that can form a tropical cyclone that will
cause a displacement of water.

Most tsunamis are barely, if at all, noticed. Most would have
gone unnoticed and unrecorded if not for the 'Tide Stations'
that measure the height of waves. Tide Stations have been
established on hundreds of shores around the world. Usually an
interuption of the normal wave pattern occurs prior to a
tsunami. The Tide Stations record the frequency and height of
the waves as they decrease prior to a tsunami. When the tsunami
comes on shore the Tide Stations record an increased height of
the waves. A tsunami as small as creating a 1 inch increase of
the waves can be detected.

Tsunamis can cause much destruction along coastal areas. A
tsunami is much like a flash flood causing as much or more
damage than a regular flood. A two foot increase or more of
coastal waves can be a cause for concern.

Tsunami warnings are usually issued when a large earthquake hits
that might send a tsunami out to sea. Tsunamis will be greater
on shores that are closer to the source. As the tsunami flows
farther from the source it becomes weaker. Man cannot as yet
accurately calculate the strength and stamina of the tsunami as
it travels through the ocean. Warnings are issued for a
possibility of a tsunami and often become a non-event or are
cancelled prior to the expected arrival time.

Trivia

5 Deadliest Tsunamis:
- The
5th deadliest recorded tsunami was triggered by the Chilean
9.5 quake of 1960. 500 feet of Chile's coastline was flooded
with damages and 3,000 deaths greater than that caused by the
quake. 15 hours later the tsunami hit Hilo, Hawaii with a 20
foot wave. - The 4th
deadliest tsunami was generated by the explosion of Krakatau
In 1883. 36,000 people were killed by tsunami waves as high as
140 feet. 160 villages were destroyed.- The 3rd
deadliest tsunami was generated by the 1908 Messina
Earthquake that caused tsunami waves from 20 to 40 feet high.
Nearly 100,000 people were killed by the quake and tsunamis.- The 2nd
deadliest tsunami was in 1755 following a 9.0 quake in
Portugal. The shores of Portugal were hit with wave as high as
98 feet. Over 100,000 people were killed.- The most
deadly Tsunami was generated by a 2004 undersea quake of
9.15. 310,000 people were killed in 12 countries. Indonesia,
India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and others saw tsunami waves as high
as 49 feet.

- A volcano eruption
or landslides falling into the water may cause a tsunami,
however they will only reach, relatively, local coastlines.
- You cannot surf a tsunami as the wave-length of a tsunami is
far too broad to catch enough energy to move a surf-board
forward.
- A Hurricane 'storm surge' is called a meteotsunami.

The island of
Vulcano in Italy's Aeolian Islands was named for the Roman god
of fire, Vulcan. The island of Vulcano had an active volcano.
You guessed it... 'Volcano' was derived from 'Vulcano'. The
study of Volcanoes is called volcanology that is sometimes is
spelled as 'vulcanology'.

A Volcano is a rupture in the planet's crust. An opening in the
Earth's surface that allows hot ash and gases or magma to escape
from the Earth's molten core. A volcano is usually housed by a
mountain that was pushed up by the pressure of the lava magma
and/or hot ash and gases pushing its way to the surface.
Volcanoes are often found in areas of diverging or converging
tectonic plates. As continental plates shift together or apart
the pressures causes earthquakes and often an escape for the
forces of the Earth's hot molten core to escape. Volcanoes of
the Pacific Ring of Fire are caused by the pushing together of
convergent tectonic plates. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge of volcanoes
are caused by the pulling apart of divergent tectonic plates.
Volcanoes do not usually occur when the tectonic plates slide
upon each other rather than collide or pull-apart. Where the
Earth's Crust is is stretched becoming thinner a non-hotspot
intraplate volcanism might allow the pressures to push up a
volcano. The African Rift Valley and the European Rhine Graben
with Eifel volcanoes are in area where a thinning of the Earth's
crust has ocurred.
A pushing up of the ground by the volcanic forces where the
earth's crust has been thinned is called a mantle plume that
occur far from the mantle boundaries. Such hotspot vocanoes like
those in Hawaii can be found on other planets or moons in our
solar system.

New oceanic crust is constantly being formed by slow cooling
that solidifys hot molten rock. This is in the areas of the
mid-oceanic ridges that are thinned by the divergent pull of
tectonic plates. The thinning allows adiabatic espansion and a
partial melting of the mantle to create new oceanic crust by the
volcanic activity. Where there is volcanic activity there are
volcanoes. Most of the divergent plate boundaries are submerged
at the bottom of the oceans, where the Earth's crust is thinner.
As such most submarine volcanic activity constanly creates a new
seafloor. Deep sea vents called black smokers are found among
submerged volcanic activity. Where a mid-oceanic ridge is above
sea-level volcanic islands are formed. Iceland is where the
ridge is above sea-level.

Mount Etna and volcanoes of the Pacific Ring of Fire is where
magma reaches sea-level building a volcanic mountain. Subduction
zones are where two plates collide. Usually the two plates are
an oceanic and a continental plate that collide; converging to
form a deep oceanic trench just off shore. Subducting plates
allow water to be released lowering the melting tempture of the
over-lapping mantle wedge, creating magma. Due to the high
silica make-up of the magma it does not often reach the surface
but when it does an above sea-level volcano is formed.

The Hawaiian Islands are believed to have been formed over a
hotspot in a mantle plume. Hotspots are usually on mantle plumes
where the Earth's crust is thinner. The convection of the mantle
causes a column of hot material that rises reaching the thinner
crust. The plume's temperature melts the crust forming pipes
that may vent magma. mantle plumes do not move while the
tectonic plates do which causes volcanoes to become dormant and
new volcanoes form. As well as the Hawaiian Islands, the
Yellowstone Caldera was formed in such a manner by the North
American plate shifting over a hotspot of a mantle plume.

When we think of a volcano we will think of a nice cone shapped
mountain that spews out lava and poisonous gasses from summit
crater. Japan's Mount Fuji is one of that type of volcano. Some
volcanoes may have very rugged peaks formed by lava domes. Other
have massive plateaus where vents issuing volcanic material may
be found anywhere on the plateau. Then we have the mud volcano
which if not part of an igneous volcano will have temptures much
lower than that of an igneous volcano.

The Volcano TimeLine addresses
the activity of active volcanoes although there are three
classifications of Volcanoes. A volcano is considered active if
it has regular eruptions. Those that have erupted in historical
times and are now quiet are classified as dormant. A volcano is
considered extinct when it has not been active within historical
times or 10,000 years. Scientists will monitor active volcanoes
for signs of unrest such as earthquakes or steam and smoke of
hot gas emmissions.

A volcano can have various types of volcanic eruptions. Steam
generated eruptions, explosive high-silica lava, effusive
low-silica lave eruptions, pyroclastic flows, carbon dioxide
emissions and lahars which are mud flows of debris, are volcanic
activities that can be hazardeous to humans. Hot springs,
fumaroles, mud pots, geysers and earthquakes are often a sign of
volcanic activity.

Volcanic activity contributes more to the pollution of our
atmosphere than all of man's polluting activities. Theory has it
that 70,000 years ago the Sumatra Toba supereruption caused a 10
year volcanic winter that reduced the human population down to
ten-thousand.

Trivia -

- The Tallest
Volcano standing above sea-level is Ojos del Salado in Chile,
measuring 22,589 feet tall.- The Tallest
Volcano measuring from its submerged base is Mauna Kea in Hawaii
standing at 30,000 feet tall.- The Earth's
largest Volcano is Hawaii's Mauna Loa with a volume of 80,000
cubic Kilometers, most of which is underwater.
- Mount Rainier is the most watched volcano within the United
States as likely to
cause damage to life and property.